Posts Tagged: apple

Blog — 1 Comment
7
Jan 10

Why I’m not excited about Nexus One

Firstly, the Nexus One has no multitouch, which is a deal breaker. Secondly, it’s not yet available in Australia (according to Google). However, I recently discovered that Apple has suckered me into being a permanent iPhone customer without me even realising it.

I’ve bought a few paid Apps for my iPhone. I can’t remember how much I’ve spent but it would be about $45. I was not conscious of it at the time but these apps I’ve paid for won’t work on any other phone. If I switch to an Android phone (or any other phone), I’ll be losing that investment. I guess I could buy an iPod Touch but what’s the point of carrying around two relatively bulky smart devices, and one where my apps only work over WiFi? I guess all I can hope for is that the iPhone hacking community figures out a way to run Android on the iPhone. Now that would be a “superphone”.

On a related note, do the Android apps have to be open source? Regardless, without an iTunes App Store equivalent, and hence the prospect of cashing in big time, devs won’t be as motivated to develop for Google’s platform if they don’t see a clear business model or way they can make money from it.

Blog — 1 Comment
15
Sep 09

Last.fm Disappointment

UPDATE: (8/12/09) At the risk of alerting the wankers at Last.fm who may find this on Google, I can still use the streaming radio through the iPhone app! Suckers!

Today I received this email from Last.fm, whose personalised radio I’ve been enjoying FOR FREE since 2007.

Hi frostnova,

Your free trial to Last.fm Radio is about to end. If you’re enjoying it, why not
subscribe for only $3.00/month and continue listening to non-stop personalised
radio.

http://www.last.fm/subscribe

Best Regards,
The Last.fm Team

When I first joined, there was no mention of this “free trial” bollocks they’ve pulled completely out of thin air as if they are some kind of Ministry of Truth.

To be honest, I value Last.fm mostly for tracking my listening habits and haven’t used the streaming radio very much so I’m not ready to completely jump ship just yet.

What I’ve really been waiting for is for Apple to make “Genius Live” for iTunes, so you could listen to suggested tracks which aren’t in your library.

You can read about what other disgruntled users are saying, although I won’t be surprised if this thread gets censored.

Blog — 2 Comments
2
Aug 09

Here’s to Internet fraud!

Prevent me from buying MP3’s online will you, Apple? I think not!

After some furious Googling, this Australian has successfully purchased content from the US iTunes store. And without a credit card!

The biggest hurdle was getting a US iTunes account (trivial, now that I know).

  1. Open iTunes and go to the Store.
  2. Sign out of your “real” account.
  3. Find any free iPhone application and Buy it.
  4. When asked to sign in, Create An Account (make sure you select  US as country). Tip: if you use Gmail,  use username+us@gmail.com as your email address.
  5. Fill in your fake US address details as generated (I used my real name).
  6. When asked for a payment method, choose None.

Now you need some iTunes credit.

  1. Find a store that sells online iTunes gift cards, such as OffGamer. Note, you can expect  to pay a premium for the online service. Some have  reported success with eBay but OffGamer were quite speedy.
  2. Pay with your PayPal account. If you don’t have one… uh, why not?
  3. When you get the gift card code (online), simply redeem it in iTunes.
  4. Purchase your content!

I still have US$12 left in my fake iTunes accounts, which I’m sure will come in handy later. It’s not going anywhere.

Oh, and your US iTunes account can also be used to download iPhone apps that aren’t yet released in Australia, such as the Last.fm app. I can’t believe I didn’t realise this sooner, duh!